Projects

To counter the destruction of mangroves and unsustainable oil palm expansion in Indonesia’s peatlands, we work with the government to improve policies and spatial planning. We also engage with the palm oil industry to promote best management practices in peatlands and ensure the participation of local communities. At the field level, we work with local partners and communities to restore peatlands and mangroves, and improve the livelihoodsof people through Bio-rights micro-credit financing that promotes conservation.

Mangroves worldwide provide countless benefits to mankind, yet they are constantly under threat from land conversion and development activities. The loss of mangroves often results in devastating effects on coastal communities who rely on these habitats for their survival, such as those on the Johor coast.

The Fourth Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction took place in Geneva, Switzerland from the 19th to the 23rd of May 2013. Under the headline “Resilient People – Resilient Planet”, delegates discussed progress to date and future needs for disaster risk reduction efforts. Wetlands International highlighted the role of ecosystems in mitigating the impact of natural hazards and extreme weather events.

We work to reduce the impacts of frequent disasters on vulnerable communities in Nusa Tenggara Timur, utilising innovate approaches to improve water management, sustainable livelihoods, ecosystem restoration, disaster risk reduction and the adaptive capacity of local communities. Through our Bio-rights microcredit scheme we improve the livelihoods of communities that restore their ecosystems by, for example, the planting of mangroves and other productive trees.

Wetlands International aims to reverse the rapid loss of mangrove forests along working towards the achievement of sustainable uses of mangroves. On this page you can find an overview of the current and past mangrove restoration activities of Wetlands International in different parts of the world, which provides you with our best practices and lessons learned.

Wetlands International works with businesses and the Government of Indonesia to introduce certification of sustainable shrimp farms. This work with the private sector supports the 'silvofishery concept' that combines the replanting of mangroves near and inside shrimp and fish ponds. This is a sustainable alternative for the rigid clearing of coastal mangrove forests for aquaculture.

Wetlands International worked in West African Guinea Bissau to restore traditional rice field (or bolanha) in mangrove areas. We enabled the building of dikes and channels to restore the hydrology for rice farming. This contributes strongly to mangrove conservation, as no new mangrove areas need to be cleared for conversion into rice fields.

Abandoned shrimp ponds in Java, Indonesia are a threat to local populations’ health and make the coastal areas vulnerable to strong winds, tidal floods, salt water intrusion and abrasion. In Banten Bay and Pemalang we show how practical fighting poverty and improving family income can go hand in hand with restoring degraded wetlands, such as these abandoned shrimp ponds. Our approach has strongly improved the food security and health of the communities we worked with.

Projects of other offices

The Ndiael Reserve in Senegal is an oasis of desert wetlands that is internationally recognised for its outstanding nature. Like the birds and the fish here, human living patterns of fishing and subsistence agriculture have been a part of these wetlands for generations. To address the growing competition for land and water that is threatening this important ecosystem, we are bringing back water to the wetlands.

To counter the destruction of mangroves and unsustainable oil palm expansion in Indonesia’s peatlands, we work with the government to improve policies and spatial planning. We also engage with the palm oil industry to promote best management practices in peatlands and ensure the participation of local communities. At the field level, we work with local partners and communities to restore peatlands and mangroves, and improve the livelihoodsof people through Bio-rights micro-credit financing that promotes conservation.

The Tana River Delta in Kenya is one of the largest and most significant coastal delta ecosystems in Eastern Africa. In order to protect the outstanding diversity of nature here in the face of a changing climate and economy, we work towards the sustainable management of wetlands and water resources while promoting more sustainable livelihoods for the local pastoral, agricultural and fisherfolk communities.

The 19th Conference of the Parties (COP19) is expected to make significant progress towards a new global climate agreement, aimed at increasing mitigation ambition before 2020 and putting in place a new global climate regime from 2020 onwards.

Between the 3rd and the 14th of June, a new round of UNFCCC negotiations took place in Bonn, Germany. Wetlands International attended the session to advocate the importance of conserving and rehabilitating wetlands for climate change mitigation and adaptation.